Congressional Testimony

Review of International Food Aid Programs

Chairman Conaway, Ranking Member Peterson, and distinguished members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me today to testify on the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) international food aid programs. I want to thank you for your longstanding, bipartisan support for our efforts to combat hunger worldwide.

Thanks to your generosity, the United States is the largest provider of food assistance in the world. With Congressional support, USAID’s Office of Food for Peace has reached more than three billion of the world's neediest people in over 150 countries with life-saving food assistance – perhaps the largest and longest-running expression of humanity seen in the world. I want to also thank our partners – American farmers, mariners, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and intergovernmental organizations – for supporting USAID in our work. Our efforts would not be possible without them, and we look forward to continuing our strong partnership to make millions of people around the world more food secure. I am also pleased to testify alongside my colleague, Phil Karsting, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service, and am proud of the ongoing partnership between our two agencies.

Since being nominated, I have had the opportunity to consult with several members of this Committee, and I have appreciated your guidance and counsel to ensure that USAID remains the world’s preeminent development agency. From the humanitarian emergency in Syria and ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, to the pressing needs in Central America and the Ebola virus in West Africa, today’s world demands creative solutions to increasingly complex problems.

Over the past two Administrations, we have seen unprecedented bipartisan support for the Agency’s key initiatives, from global health and food security to humanitarian assistance and science and technology—as well as a recognition that the Agency’s work must be informed by a rigorous use of evidence and data to guide decision-making. These are principles that have driven my own approach to international development across a thirty-five year career, and principles that I will continue to uphold as Administrator, if confirmed.

It is an exciting and pivotal time for U.S. policy in the region. More people live in Asia than anywhere else on the planet. Over the past three decades, the region has experienced an unprecedented period of prosperity, propelling hundreds of millions out of extreme poverty. A growing middle class has expanded trade opportunities and driven reciprocal growth in countries around the world, including the United States. The 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) alone comprise our fourth largest export market. In the next decade, trade volume in Asia is expected to double, and by 2050, Asia’s gross domestic product (GDP) is projected to account for more than half of the world’s GDP.

U.S. assistance provides balance as well as choices for Central Asian countries to develop the wherewithal to determine their own futures. USAID is strengthening democratic governance systems and helping to shape regionally and globally connected economies not wholly dependent on remittances, as well as meeting urgent human needs through a focus on health, food security and modest but important support to specific issues like combatting human trafficking.

The U.S. government’s “rebalance” to the Asia-Pacific recognizes that our future prosperity and security are inextricably tied to the region. Over the past three decades, the region has experienced an unprecedented period of prosperity, propelling hundreds of millions out of extreme poverty. A growing middle class has expanded trade opportunities and driven reciprocal growth in countries around the world, including the United States.

As Acting Administrator Alfonso Lenhardt testified before you last week, USAID’s mission across the globe is to partner to end extreme poverty and promote resilient, democratic societies. In Latin America and the Caribbean, USAID assistance has helped expand financing for small businesses and supported macroeconomic policies to help reduce inequities and create opportunities through improved access to quality health and education services. Several countries in the region are now donors in their own right.

For more than two decades, USAID has partnered with the Government of Nepal to strengthen its governance system, especially its disaster management and emergency response capabilities. While the April 25 earthquake and subsequent aftershocks caused significant damage to the country, preparedness measures put in place prior to the earthquake—such as the pre-positioning of supplies and training on earthquake-resistant construction—helped to save lives and mitigate damage. To date, the U.S. Government has provided nearly $47 million in humanitarian assistance to earthquake-affected populations. We know that our investments before the crisis and after will be critical to ensuring that Nepal can overcome this latest tragedy and build a democratic, resilient future.

Thank you for the invitation to testify today. I am grateful for the Committee’s interest in Central America and I am pleased to have this opportunity to update you on our interagency strategy to address the root causes of the migration crisis in Central America.

USAID’s longstanding role in the Balkans and across Europe and Eurasia is to work with host countries and international partners to build the institutions of government, the economic systems, and the free civil societies that lead to democracy and prosperity. Our job is to help build the foundations of “a Europe Whole, Free, and at Peace.”

Over the past two decades, USAID’s programs in the Balkans have been designed to accelerate democratic progress and European integration. Today we partner with governments, civil society and other donors in Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Serbia, and Macedonia to strengthen democracies and the rule of law, confront endemic corruption, and expand civil society and a free press.

President Barack Obama’s fiscal year (FY) 2016 budget request of $845.6 million in foreign assistance for the East Asia-Pacific represents an 8 percent increase over FY 2014, laying a foundation for long-term strengthening of our relationships with the people of the region.

It is an exciting and pivotal time for U.S. policy in the region. More people live in Asia than anywhere else on the planet. Hundreds of millions have been lifted out of extreme poverty over the past few decades, contributing to economic growth, regional stability and a growing middle class. In the next decade, trade volume in Asia is expected to double, and by 2050, Asia’s gross domestic product (GDP) is projected to account for more than half of the world’s GDP.

Today, there are still more than one billion people globally who suffer from one or more Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). These diseases disproportionately impact poor and rural populations, who often lack access to safe water, sanitation and essential medicines – the very people who make up those in extreme poverty. NTDs take a very heavy human toll by creating sickness, disability, blindness and severe disfigurement; contributing to childhood malnutrition; compromising the mental and physical development of children; and leading to an appreciable loss of productivity. While NTDs do not usually result in death, they clearly devastate individuals, families and the future of children.